


Breaking Down Walls

by melroihag



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hollstein - Freeform, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 03:33:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11005095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melroihag/pseuds/melroihag
Summary: Laura approaches Carmilla about her attitude, after her snarky remarks and closed-off-ness gets too much for her to take.





	Breaking Down Walls

**Author's Note:**

> The Carmilla Movie starts filming next week and I'm so stoked! I've been having serious withdrawals. This is a random one shot and it's probably crappy but here it is..

Carmilla had been in a terrible mood, more so than usual, and Laura was at her wits end with it.  
As the tiny brunette walked across the Silas campus from her final class of the day, she decided she was going to speak to her roommate about her attitude once and for all, despite ruining what unspoken civility they’d found themselves in, in the past few weeks.

As she approached her dorm room, an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of Laura’s stomach and a small voice inside her head, hoped that Carmilla wouldn’t be in there.  
She clutched the door knob shakily, before taking a deep steadying breath and opening the door.  
Laura’s gaze landed on her roommate who was, as usual, lounging on her bed with her nose deep in a book, and leaning on Laura’s yellow pillow.

Laura placed her bag by her desk and heard Carmilla’s grunt of acknowledgement, causing her to roll her eyes. Briefly she wondered if she should even bring anything up, but then seeing her yellow pillow had been stolen again by her roommate, gave Laura the extra push she needed.

“We need to talk.” Laura said, twisting her desk chair around to face Carmilla.  
The raven-haired girl made no hint to say she’d heard her, and Laura felt her temper flare up. Clearing her throat, she tried again.  
“Carmilla Karnstein-” she began to say, but fell silent as she heard the girl chuckle behind her book. A frown creased Laura’s brow and she folded her arms across her chest.  
“My full name, huh?” Carmilla smirked before sighing exasperatedly and dropping her book onto her lap, “What have I done now, Cupcake?” she asked, picking at a loose thread on her shirt.

Laura didn’t know where to begin, how did she want to start the conversation? A moment passed and Carmilla glanced up at her, brow raised.  
For a beat, Laura thought she saw a flicker of genuine concern in her roommate’s eyes, but thought better of it.  
“Why do you always steal my pillow?” she asked suddenly, the words blurting themselves out and startling both Carmilla and Laura herself.  
A blush coloured Laura’s cheeks but her gaze didn’t falter.

Carmilla blinked a few times, unable to come up with a sufficient enough answer that wouldn’t inevitably lead to follow-up questions from the journalism student. So instead she sat up cross-legged, inhaled deeply and then threw the yellow pillow back onto Laura’s bed.  
Laura watched as the look of longing in Carmilla’s eyes appeared as the girl launched her yellow pillow back onto her bed, a sense of confusion overcoming her, and yet in the blink of an eye that look disappeared, replaced by what, Laura couldn’t quite put her finger on it.  
“Happy now?” Carmilla mumbled under her breath, picking her book back up.  
“Wait!” Laura blurted out again and Carmilla dropped the book into her lap once again, but this time closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.  
“What, Laura?” Carmilla asked through gritted teeth.  
Laura was left speechless, she couldn't remember the last time Carmilla had used her actual name instead of ‘Cupcake’ or ‘Creampuff’ or whatever else.

The silence in the room was deafening and under Laura’s stare, Carmilla was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Her instinct kicked in not a moment later and she got to her feet in an instant, grabbing her jacket from the foot of the bed and shrugging her arms into it.  
“Where are you going?” Laura’s small voice asked and Carmilla shook her head as she reached the door.  
“Why do you always do that?” the anger in Laura’s voice took Carmilla by surprise and she turned around slowly.  
“Do what?” she narrowed her eyes at the hazel-eyed girl, feeling sick to her stomach that she was trying to use Laura away again.  
“Leave!” Laura pointed at the door and took a step forward.

Carmilla’s shoulders visibly tensed and Laura braced herself for impact.  
The raven-haired girl was guarded by an intricate maze of walls, complicated and tangled, and yet her prissy little roommate was the only one to try and breach them.  
Carmilla found that her feet wouldn’t move, no matter how hard she pleaded with them, they stayed frozen in place.  
In all the time Laura had known her roommate, she’d never seen the Carmilla Karnstein look quite so small, as she did standing right there in front of her that very moment. Her head was cast downward and her raven locks curtained her unfairly attractive face. She was gripping the edges of her leather jacket so tightly, her knuckles were bone-white.  
“Can’t we just talk?” Laura asked, taking another few steps towards her roommate.  
The hopefulness in the tiny brunette’s voice caused a pang of guilt to surge through Carmilla, and she clenched her eyes shut tightly, praying for the floor to open up and swallow her whole.  
“Carm.” the nickname fell from Laura’s lips so naturally as she reached out to gently caress Carmilla’s clenched hand. She heard the raven-haired girl’s breath catch audibly, as she stood directly in front of her.

Upon opening her eyes, Carmilla glanced up from beneath her lashes at her persistent roommate and a warm sensation flowed through her from where they were just barely touching. The feeling was foreign and set Carmilla’s fears on edge. Sh found herself able to move once again and instead of leaving out the door, she barged passed Laura and returned to her bed.  
She leant against the wall, knees pulled up to her chest and face hidden, as if Laura couldn’t see her.  
Seeing Carmilla like this made Laura’s heart ache, but also gave her a flicker of hope because her broody roommate hadn’t left, she’d stayed, so she was going to take advantage of this opportunity as much as possible.

The bed dipped next to Carmilla and she could feel Laura’s warmth radiate beside her. She moved away and mumbled under her breath something Laura couldn’t quite make out.  
Laura tried not to take it so personally, watching as Carmilla visibly recoiled from her proximity, she was sure Carmilla had just spoken, but then again her roommate’s face was hidden.  
“What was that?” Laura asked gently, settling beside Carmilla, resting her head back against the wall and glancing over at her.  
“You were the one that wanted to talk.” Carmilla spat, “So what is it?” she hissed, hating herself for being so cruel to possibly the kindest soul she’d ever met.

Laura took a steadying breath once more before she answered.  
“I know why you do that, y’know.” Laura mused, piquing Carmilla’s interest.  
“Do what?” Carmilla huffed, turning her head slightly towards the tiny brunette.  
“You get all snarky when you feel vulnerable.” she answered and Carmilla’s hands clenched into fists again.  
“Why don’t you let someone in?” Laura asked, barely above a whisper.  
Carmilla shot her a death glare, but Laura just tilted her head slightly, searching Carmilla’s gaze and studying her features for answers to questions unknown.  
“Don’t you have some assignment or other to do?” Carmilla turned away, trying desperately to change the subject.  
“No.” Laura answered simply.  
Carmilla rolled her eyes, she knew that she herself was stubborn, but she wasn’t a scratch on Laura Hollis. That girl’s middle name was stubborn.

“Well, I actually have somewhere to be so…” she said standing again, but this time Laura was in her way, with a look of determination on her face.  
“No, you don’t.” Laura said, hands on her hips as she looked up at her difficult roommate.  
“Fine. You want to talk? Let’s talk.” Carmilla said angrily, sitting back down with her knees pulled up to her chest. She cracked her knuckles and glared up at Laura.  
Laura moved to stand in front of where Carmilla sat, her arms folded across her chest as she stared down at roommate.  
“Well? I’m waiting.” Carmilla hissed impatiently.  
“You’ve been there for me the past few weeks when I found studying to be draining. You let me whine about my stupid problems and didn’t make me feel stupid like before. I want to know why.” Laura’s hands returned to her hips.  
Carmilla grimaced and shot her head, “You mistook that for caring. Don’t worry, Cutie… everyone does at some point.”  
Laura’s face scrunched in annoyance and her arms fell to her sides, her hands clenching into fists.

Seeing the anger ignite in Laura’s eyes, caused Carmilla’s smirk to appear. It was better that Laura hate her, it’s for her own safety, Carmilla told herself.  
“You do care.” Laura said accusingly, a furious blush colouring her cheeks as her eyes started to water.  
“No. I don’t.” Carmilla said, her tone final.  
“If that were really the case, you wouldn’t keep stealing my pillow or doing small nice gestures that you think I don’t notice but I really do, and you can’t deny it because I have evidence of it on my vlog project and-” her rambling was cut off by Carmilla groaning.  
“You’re giving me a migraine.” Carmilla closed her eyes and massaged her temples.  
“I’M giving YOU a migraine?” Laura shrieked in disbelief, causing Carmilla to wince at her roommate’s unnaturally high pitch.  
“Y’know what? Forget it. I thought we were becoming friends… but clearly you hate me for some unknown reason. I won’t bother you again.” Laura huffed and returned to her desk where she opened up her laptop.

As the room fell into the mother of awkward silences, Carmilla sat there stunned, eyes wide. Had Laura Hollis just called her a friend? Had Laura Hollis the stubborn, headstrong, prissy little roommate of hers just actually given up?  
Carmilla didn’t know how much time had gone by before she spoke up.  
“I don’t hate you.” she said and Laura’s shoulders visibly tensed up.  
Laura didn’t move, didn’t say a word, so Carmilla took that as her cue to continue.  
“In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have a whole lot of friends.” she said quietly, picking as her black nail polish.  
“Maybe if you weren’t such an asshole, that wouldn’t be the case.” Laura mumbled and Carmilla’s lips twitched into a small smile.  
“I don’t hate you.” she repeated herself, suddenly finding herself very vulnerable once again. A huge part of her didn’t want Laura to hate her either, even if it would be safer for her. She supposed she was greedy that way.

Laura sighed and twisted the desk chair around to face Carmilla again.  
A look of exhaustion etched onto her face as she spoke, “Your mood swings are giving me whiplash.”  
Carmilla chuckled lightly at that and raked a hand through her hair.  
Laura’s lips twitched into a small smile at the sound of Carmilla’s laugh, and she found her heart start to race as her gaze zeroed in on the raven-haired beauty biting her lip.  
“I am an asshole.” Carmilla admitted, “But is what you said true?” she asked, cringing at how incredibly small her voice sounded to her own ears.  
Laura decided against agreeing that she was an asshole and focused on the question Carmilla had just asked her.  
“Is what true?” she asked.  
Carmilla looked up and found her roommate’s head tilted and her brow furrowed adorably in confusion. Ignoring the fluttering in her stomach, she dropped her gaze to her lap and continued her train of thought out loud.  
“That we’re friends.” she said, afraid to look up.

A shuffling sounded and then the bed dipped beside Carmilla once again. She still refused to look up, but she didn’t move away this time.  
“Are we not?” Laura asked quietly.  
Carmilla glanced up and was sucked into Laura’s gentle hazel gaze.  
“I want to be.” Carmilla spoke the words without thinking and marvelled as the tiny brunette’s eyes lit up at that.  
Never had someone looked so genuinely excited to even know Carmilla, let alone be her friend as well.  
She found herself lost for words as a few of her walls came crumbling down.  
“But being friends means talking.” Laura said, looking at Carmilla apologetically, “And I want to be there for you when you’re stressed or angry or happy or-”  
“Why?” Carmilla asked, genuinely curious.  
“Why what?” Laura searched her roommate’s gaze.  
Carmilla opened her mouth to speak but no words came, Laura noticed this and decided to answer what she figured Carmilla would be thinking.  
“I want to be there for you because it’s what friends do.” Laura shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “Despite being an asshole…” she nudged Carmilla with her elbow playfully and smiled, “You have these moments where you make me feel so happy and safe I just…” her rambling was cut off by a pair of very soft and very enthusiastic lips against hers.

Carmilla’s stomach fluttered at Laura’s words, she took herself by surprise when she leant over and kissed her quiet. Realisation dawned on Carmilla that every cliché in the universe was true. That time stood still and it was just her and Laura alone in that small fragment of time. She yearned for this moment to loop for eternity. As if by instinct, her hands reached up to cradle Laura’s face gently. The warmth radiating from the tiny brunette to the raven-haired girl had increased tenfold.

Laura felt like her heart might explode from the feel of Carmilla’s lips against hers. She never took much interest in cliché’s before, but as she felt the swipe of Carmilla’s tongue against her bottom lip, she felt everything click into place. Like they were two jigsaw puzzle pieces that when together, completed a beautiful picture.  
Absentmindedly her fingers tangled in Carmilla’s raven hair and she tugged lightly, to keep her close. Every nerve ending in her entire body felt on fire, as she felt Carmilla gently cup her face and a content sigh escaped her.

Carmilla was the first to pull back for air, but she didn’t go far, settling instead to rest her forehead against Laura’s.  
Laura bit her lip to stifle her grin as she opened her eyes, finding a small smile curving Carmilla’s lips and her eyes still shut, as she breathed heavily.  
“I’m sorry. You just had to stop talking.” Carmilla whispered, laughing quietly.  
Laura untangle one hand from Carmilla’s hair and caressed her cheekbone. She waited patiently for she raven-haired beauty to open her eyes.  
An overwhelming calm spread through Carmilla as she opened her eyes and found herself getting lost in hazel orbs she’d dreamt of each night for months now.  
“I won’t say another word.” Laura whispered and nudged her nose against Carmilla’s.

A bashful smile found it’s way onto Carmilla’s face and Laura thought she’d never looked so beautiful.  
“If this is a dream…” Carmilla said quietly, her eyes closing once more. “Don’t wake me…” she pleaded, holding Laura closer.  
“This feels too real and I’d really like to stay awhile.” she said nudging her nose against Laura’s.  
Laura felt her heart race at the realisation that Carmilla liked her of all people.  
”Me too.” she said as she drew Carmilla in for a languid kiss and moved closer.  
Carmilla hummed once Laura’s knee landed against her hip and she pulled back slightly to look at her roommate.  
Not knowing what to say, Carmilla found herself repeat her words from earlier, “I don’t hate you.”  
Laura giggled and caressed Carmilla’s cheek, “I don’t hate you either.” she said grinning, and hid her face against her Carmilla’s shoulder.


End file.
